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Michigan Supreme Court justice vacancy (November 2022)
| Michigan Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| McCormack vacancy |
| Date: November 30, 2022 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: Kyra Harris Bolden |
| Date: January 1, 2023 |
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) appointed Kyra Harris Bolden to the Michigan Supreme Court on January 1, 2023, to replace Justice Bridget Mary McCormack.[1] Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack retired on November 30, 2022.[2] Bolden was Governor Gretchen Whitmer's (D) first nominee to the seven-member supreme court.
At the time of the vacancy under Michigan law, the governor appointed a temporary replacement to serve until the next general election.
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Michigan Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the appointee.
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2022.
Full term
Special election
See also: Michigan Supreme Court elections, 2024
General election
Special general election for Michigan Supreme Court
Incumbent Kyra Harris Bolden defeated Patrick W. O'Grady in the special general election for Michigan Supreme Court on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Kyra Harris Bolden (Nonpartisan)  | 61.5 | 2,597,567 |
 | Patrick W. O'Grady (Nonpartisan) | 38.5 | 1,623,460 | |
| Total votes: 4,221,027 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic convention
Special Democratic convention for Michigan Supreme Court
Incumbent Kyra Harris Bolden advanced from the special Democratic convention for Michigan Supreme Court on August 24, 2024.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Kyra Harris Bolden (D) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican convention
Special Republican convention for Michigan Supreme Court
Patrick W. O'Grady advanced from the special Republican convention for Michigan Supreme Court on August 24, 2024.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Patrick W. O'Grady (R) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Bolden received the following endorsements.
- Democratic Party of Michigan
- Women Lawyers Association of Michigan
- Michigan League of Conservation Voters
Partial term
The appointee
- See also: Kyra Harris Bolden
Kyra Harris Bolden was born in Royal Oak, Michigan. She earned a bachelor's degree from Grand Valley State University in 2010 and a J.D. from the University of Detroit, Mercy School of Law in 2014. Her professional experience includes working as a civil litigation attorney and public servant.[3][4]
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Michigan
The seven justices of the Michigan Supreme Court are chosen by the Michigan method in which a partisan nomination is followed by nonpartisan elections.[5] Incumbent judges seeking re-election may file an affidavit of candidacy requesting to be placed on the ballot, while non-incumbent candidates must either file a nominating petition or obtain a partisan nomination at a party convention. Incumbency is noted on the ballot, though party affiliation is not. Judges serve eight-year terms and must be re-elected if they wish to remain on the court.[6]
Qualifications
To be elected to the supreme court, a judge must:
- be a qualified elector;
- be licensed to practice law in the state;
- have at least five years of law practice experience;
- be under the age of 70.[6]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the court is elected by his or her fellow justices and serves a two-year term[6]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a temporary replacement to serve until the next general election. At the governor's request, the state bar's standing committee on judicial qualifications interviews, evaluates, and rates all candidates, submitting a confidential report to the governor. However, the governor is not required to request candidates from the committee, nor is the governor bound by the committee's evaluations.[6]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
Makeup of the court
- See also: Michigan Supreme Court
Justices
Following McCormack's retirement, the Michigan Supreme Court included the following members:
| ■ Elizabeth Welch | Elected in 2020 | |
| ■ Megan Cavanagh | Elected in 2018 | |
| ■ Elizabeth Clement | Appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder (R) in 2017 | |
| ■ Richard Bernstein | Elected in 2014 | |
| ■ David Viviano | Appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder (R) in 2013 | |
| ■ Brian Zahra | Appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder (R) in 2011 |
About the court
Founded in 1805, the Michigan Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has seven judgeships. The current chief of the court is Megan Cavanagh.[7]
About Chief Justice McCormack
- See also: Bridget Mary McCormack
Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack joined the Michigan Supreme Court in 2013. She was elected to the court.
Prior to her election to the Michigan Supreme Court, McCormack was a law professor and dean at the University of Michigan Law School. While an associate dean, McCormack co-founded the law school's Innocence Clinic. She was a faculty fellow at Yale Law School. She also worked as an attorney with the Legal Aid Society and the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York.[3]
McCormack received her J.D. from New York University Law School.[3]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2022
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2022
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2022. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2021.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Governor Gretchen Whitmer, "Gov. Whitmer Announces Historic Selection of Kyra Harris Bolden as Next Michigan Supreme Court Justice," November 22, 2022
- ↑ Michigan courts, "Chief Justice McCormack to Retire from Michigan Supreme Court," September 12, 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 26, 2020 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "bio" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 10, 2022
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Michigan," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed August 27, 2021
- ↑ Michigan Courts, "About the Supreme Court," accessed October 29, 2014
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Federal courts:
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Michigan, Western District of Michigan • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Michigan, Western District of Michigan
State courts:
Michigan Supreme Court • Michigan Court of Appeals • Michigan Circuit Court • Michigan Court of Claims • Michigan District Courts • Michigan Municipal Courts • Michigan Probate Courts
State resources:
Courts in Michigan • Michigan judicial elections • Judicial selection in Michigan
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